-The Hindu With supply of LPG refills turning inadequate, majority of govt. schools depend on firewood for cooking, resulting in health issues among students Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh): The tall claim of the government of successful implementation of the mid-day meal schemes in schools appears frivolous in the district as the supplies of provisions are given a short shrift. Despite twelve LPG cylinders per annum are being provided to each school, over 80...

-The Hindu Attempt to commit suicide should stay on the statute book because suicide comes in conflict with the monopolistic power of the state to take away life You choose your country, you choose your spouse, you choose your profession, you choose your political masters, and you choose where you want to live and how. Die you must. But how to die and when: should that be a matter of choice as...

-The Hindu Though the Union Environment Ministry acknowledges its damage, Uttarakhand's hydroelectric project-driven development agenda remains unchanged Chaaen, a village atop a hill in the picturesque Alaknanda Valley, is infamous for getting a hydroelectric project into trouble. I first visited the village last year while covering the worst flood disaster Uttarakhand had witnessed. On June 26, 2013, as I stood at Narendra Singh's verandah in Chaaen, I noticed how the walls had developed...

-PTI Global Financial Integrity puts the cumulative illicit money moving out of the country at Rs 28 lakh crore in 10 years Washington: As India continues its pursuit of suspected black money stashed abroad, an international think-tank has ranked the country third globally with an estimated USD 94.76 billion (nearly Rs 6 lakh crore) illicit wealth outflows in 2012. As a result, the cumulative illicit money moving out of the country over a...

Child sex ratio (CSR) in India has declined from 927 in 2001 to 918 in 2011 (girls per 1,000 boys), according to a new report entitled Missing Girls: Mapping the Adverse Child Sex Ratio in India (Census 2011). Of the total 640 districts in the country, 429 districts have experienced decline in CSR (see the link below).   Of these 429 districts, 26 districts exhibited drastic decline (of 50 points or more),...